Stop the Bullying Surrounding Head Lice!
October is National Bullying Prevention Month
School children can be quick to make fun of any perceived difference among them, and having head lice is no exception. Some get the idea from their parents that if a child in their class has head lice, the child and his or her family are somehow at fault. This can lead to the bullying of children with head lice.
Our team at Gulf Coast Lice Removal wants to help take the pressure off children and parents struggling with the stress and embarrassment of head lice. We can stop the shaming and blaming that often takes place surrounding head lice, by sticking to the facts.
Head lice are no one’s fault! The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatricians, the National Association of School Nurses, and just about every other medical authority in the world are in agreement on this. Understanding the facts about how head lice spread can help foster understanding and support for families, rather than causing blame and fault-finding.
A common myth is that head lice are associated with poor hygiene. The medical world has busted this myth, but the perception persists. The CDC states, “Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice. There’s also some evidence to suggest that head lice are actually a sign of cleanliness. Lisa Lewis, a pediatrician in Fort Worth, Texas, told Readers Digest, “lice don’t adhere easily to oily, greasy, or dirty hair. They love to infest nice, clean dark, thick hair.”
The facts are: head lice primarily spread through head-to-head contact; they don’t jump or fly; and they can not survive for more than a day without consuming human blood. People get head lice from other people when in close physical contact. They spread more easily among children because children play and sleep together and have more head-to-head contact than adults do.
One reason head lice cause distress among parents is that, until recently, they have been extremely difficult to get rid of. Traditional head lice products require multiple applications and multiple rounds of painstaking combing out of the eggs (nits) and dead bugs from a child’s hair. In addition, many of those traditional products just don’t work anymore. Many parents try and fail to treat head lice with traditional OTC products because head lice have become immune to the chemical pesticides in them. A study in the Journal of Medical Entomology has been cited many times that so called ‘super lice’ comprise 98% of head lice in the U.S. In addition to poor effectiveness, the pesticides that are used in these products have been linked to developmental and behavioral problems in children.
The good news is that Gulf Coast Lice Removal in Daphne can help. We are locally owned and our proven method of eradication makes treating head lice, fast, safe, and easy. One treatment, and you’ll leave our clinic lice free!
The facts about head lice are simple and straight forward; there is no need for parents to stress and no reason for kids to bully one another.